多閱讀一些英語的美文能幫助我們更好地提升英語閱讀能力。下面就隨小編一起去閱讀英語的短篇美文，相信能帶給大家幫助。
The story goes that some time ago, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree. Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, "This is for you, Daddy.”
有這樣一個故事，爸爸因為三歲的女兒浪費了一卷金色的包裝紙而懲罰了她。家裡很缺錢，當孩子想要用包裝紙裝飾一個掛在聖誕樹上的盒子時，爸爸生氣了。然而，第二天早上小女孩把盒子作為禮物送給了爸爸，“這是給你的，爸爸。”
The man was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found out the box was empty. He yelled at her, stating, "Don't you know, when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something inside? The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and cried, "Oh, Daddy, it's not empty at all. I blew kisses into the box. They're all for you, Daddy."
女兒的這個行為讓爸爸感到尷尬。但是當他發現盒子是空的時候，他的怒火再一次燃燒了。他對女兒喊道，“難道你不知道給別人禮物的時候，裡面應該放有東西嗎？”多女孩抬頭看著父親，眼裡含著淚水，“爸爸，盒子不是空的。我把吻放在了盒子裡，都是給你的，爸爸。”
The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness. Only a short time later, an accident took the life of the child. It is also told that her father kept that gold box by his bed for many years and, whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.
爸爸感動極了，他摟住女兒，懇請她的原諒。之後不久，一場事故奪走了小女孩的生命。據說，父親便將那個小金盒子放在床頭，一直陪伴著他的餘生。無論何時他感到氣餒或者遇到難辦的事情，他就會開啟禮盒，取出一個假想的吻，記起漂亮女兒給予了自己特殊的愛。
In a very real sense, each one of us, as humans beings, have been given a gold container filled with unconditional love and kisses... from our children, family members, friends, and God. There is simply no other possession, anyone could hold, more precious than this.
從一個非常真實的意義上說，我們每個人都被贈與過一個無形的金色禮盒，那裡面裝滿了來自子女，家人，朋友及上帝無條件的愛與吻。人們所能擁有的最珍貴的禮物莫過於此了。
第二篇：英語的短篇美文Most people need to hear those "three little words" I love you. Once in a while, they hear them just in time.
大多數人需要聽到那“三個小字”——我愛你。有時他們就會在最需要的時候聽到。
I met Connie the day she was admitted to the hospice ward, where I worked as a volunteer. Her husband, Bill, stood nervously nearby as she was transferred from the gurney to the hospital bed. Although Connie was in the final stages of her fight against cancer, she was alert and cheerful. We got her settled in. I finished marking her name on all the hospital supplies she would be using, then asked if she needed anything.
我在康尼住進收容所病房的那天見到了她。我在那兒當義工。把她從輪床抬上病床時，她的丈夫比爾焦慮不安地站在旁邊。雖然康尼處於和癌症搏鬥的晚期，但她仍然神智清醒，精神愉快。我們把她安頓好。我在醫院提供給她使用的所有用品上標上她的名字，然後問她是否需要什麼。
"Oh, yes," she said, "would you please show me how to use the TV? I enjoy the soaps so much and I don't want to get behind on what's happening." Connie was a romantic. She loved soap operas, romance novels and movies with a good love story. As we became acquainted, she confided how frustrating it was to be married 32 years to a man who often called her "a silly woman."
“啊，是的，”她說，“請告訴我怎麼用電視好嗎？我非常喜歡肥皂劇，想隨時跟上進展情況。”康尼是個浪漫的'人。她酷愛肥皂劇、浪漫小說和講述美好愛情故事的電影。隨著我們越來越熟，她向我吐露說，跟一個經常叫她“傻女人”的男人生活了32年有多麼沮喪。
"Oh, I know Bill loves me," she said, "but he has never been one to say he loves me, or send cards to me." She sighed and looked out the window at the trees in the courtyard. "I'd give anything if he'd say 'I love you,' but it's just not in his nature."
“唉，我知道比爾愛我，”她說道，“可是他從來不說他愛我，也不給我寄賀卡。”她嘆了口氣，朝窗外庭院裡的樹望去。“如果他說聲‘我愛你’，我願意付出一切，可這根本不是他的性格。”
Bill visited Connie every day. In the beginning, he sat next to the bed while she watched the soaps. Later, when she began sleeping more, he paced up and down the hallway outside her room. Soon, when she no longer watched television and had fewer waking moments, I began spending more of my volunteer time with Bill.
比爾每天都來探望康尼。一開始，康尼看肥皂劇，他就坐在床旁。後來，她睡的時候多了，比爾就在屋外走廊裡踱來踱去。不久，康尼不再看電視了，醒的時候也少了，我開始花更多的義工時間和比爾在一起。
He talked about having worked as a carpenter and how he liked to go fishing. He and Connie had no children, but they'd been enjoying retirement by traveling, until Connie got sick. Bill could not express his feelings about the fact that his wife was dying.
他談到他一直是個木工，他多麼喜歡釣魚。他和康尼沒有孩子，但他們四處旅遊，享受著退休生活，直到康尼得病。對他妻子病危這一事實，比爾無法表達他的感受。
One day, over coffee in the cafeteria, I got him on the subject of women and how we need romance in our lives; how we love to get sentimental1 cards and love letters.
一天，在自助餐廳喝咖啡時，我設法和比爾談起女人這個話題，談到生活中我們多麼需要浪漫，多想收到充滿柔情蜜意的卡片和情書。
"Do you tell Connie you love her?" I asked (knowing his answer), and he looked at me as if I was crazy.
“你跟康尼說你愛她嗎？”我明知故問。他瞧著我，就好像我有神經病。
"I don't have to," he said. "She knows I do!"
“我沒有必要說，”他說道。“她知道我愛她！”
"I'm sure she knows," I said, reaching over and touching his hands rough, carpenter's hands that were gripping the cup as if it were the only thing he had to hang onto "but she needs to hear it, Bill. She needs to hear what she has meant to you all these years. Please think about it."
“我肯定她知道，”我說。我伸出手，觸控著他那雙木工粗糙的手。這雙手緊握著杯子，似乎它是他需要依附的惟一東西——“可是她需要聽到它，比爾。她需要聽到所有這些年來她對你意味什麼。請你考慮考慮。”
We walked back to Connie's room. Bill disappeared inside, and I left to visit another patient. Later, I saw Bill sitting by the bed. He was holding Connie's hand as she slept. The date was February 12.
我們走回康尼的房間。比爾進了屋，我走開去看望另一個病人。後來，我看見比爾坐在床邊。康尼入睡了，他握著她的一隻手。那天是2月12日。
Two days later I walked down the hospice ward at noon. There stood Bill, leaning up against the wall in the hallway, staring at the floor. I already knew from the head nurse that Connie had died at 11 A.M..
兩天後的中午時分，我順著收容所病房過道向前走著。比爾站在那裡，靠著牆，凝視著地面。護士長已經告訴我，康尼在上午11點故去了。
When Bill saw me, he allowed himself to come into my arms for a long time. His face was wet with tears and he was trembling. Finally, he leaned back against the wall and took a deep breath.
比爾看見我後，讓我擁抱了他許久。他滿臉淚水，渾身顫抖。最後，他向後靠在牆上，深深地吸了一口氣。
"I have to say something," he said. "I have to say how good I feel about telling her." He stopped to blow his nose. "I thought a lot about what you said, and this morning I told her how much I loved her... and loved being married to her. You shoulda2 seen her smile!"
“我有話非說不可，”他說道。“我得說，對她說出來，感覺真是好極了。”他停下來擤鼻子。“你說的話我想了很多；今天早上我對她說我多麼愛她……我多麼珍惜和她結為夫妻。你真該看看她的笑容！”
I went into the room to say my own goodbye to Connie. There, on the bedside table, was a large Valentine card from Bill. You know, the sentimental kind that says, "To my wonderful wife... I love you."
我走進康尼的房間，親自去和她告別 。我看見，床頭桌上放著一張比爾給她的大大的情人節賀卡——就是那種充滿柔情蜜意的賀卡，上面寫著：“給我出色的妻子……我愛你。”
第三篇：英語的短篇美文“Do you like my dress?"she asked of a passing stranger."My mommy made it just for me."She said with a tear in her eye.
"你喜歡我的連衣裙嗎？“她問一位正走過她身邊的陌生人。”我媽媽專給我做的。”她說道，眼裡冒出了淚珠。
"Well,I think it's very pretty,so tell me little one,why are you crying?"
“嗯，我認為你的裙子真漂亮。告訴我，小姑娘，你為什麼哭呢？”
With a quiver in her voice the little girl answered."After Mommy made me this dress,she had to go away."
小姑娘聲音有些顫抖，回答道：“我媽媽給我做完這條裙子後就不得不離開了。”
"Well,now,"said the lady,"with a little girl like you waiting for her,I'm sure she'll be right back."
“哦，是這樣，”陌生的女士說，“有你這樣一個小姑娘等著她，我敢肯定她很快就會回來的。”
"No Ma'am ,you don't understand,"said the child through her tears,"my daddy said she's up in heaven now with Grandfather."
“不，女士，您不明白，”女孩透過淚水說，“我爸說她現在和我爺爺在天堂裡。”
Finally the woman realized what the child meant,and why she was ling down she gently cradled the child in her arms and together they cried for the mommy that was gone.
女士終於明白孩子的意思了，也明白她為什麼哭泣。她跪下，溫柔地把女孩摟在懷裡，她們一起為離去的媽媽哭泣。
Then suddenly the little girl did something that the woman thought was a bit stopped crying,stepped back from the woman and began to sang so softly that it was almost a whisper. It was the sweetest sound the woman had ever heard,almost like the song of a very small bird.
忽然小姑娘又做了件讓女士感到有點奇怪的事。她停住了哭泣，從女士懷抱中抽出身，向後退了一步，然後開始唱歌。她唱得如此輕柔，幾乎像章晨低語。這是女士聽到過的最甜美的聲音，簡直就像一隻非常小的小鳥在吟唱。
After the child stopped singing she explained to the lady,"My mommy used to sing that song to me before she went away,and she made me promise to sing it whenever I started crying and it would make me stop."
小女孩唱完後解釋說：“媽媽離去前經常給我唱這支歌，她讓我答應她我一哭就唱這支歌，這樣我就不哭了。”
"See,"she exclaimed,"it did,and now my eyes are dry!"
“您瞧，”她驚叫道，“真管用，現在我的眼睛裡沒有眼淚了！”
As the woman turned to go,the little girl grabbed her sleeve,"Ma'am,can you stay just a minute?I want to show you something."
女士轉身要走時，小女孩抓住她的衣袖：“女士，您能再停留一小會兒嗎？我想給您看點東西。”
"Of course,"she answered,"what do you want me to see?"
“當然可以，”她回答，“你想要我看什麼呢？”
Pointing to a spot on her dress,she said,"Right here is where my mommy kissed my dress,and here,"pointing to another spot,"and here is another kiss, and here,and y said that she put all those kisses on my dress so that I would have her kisses for every booboo'that made me cry."
小女孩指著裙子上的一處，說：“就在這裡，我媽媽親了我的裙子，還有這裡，”她指著另外一處，“這裡有另外一個吻，還有這裡，這裡。媽媽說她把所有這些吻都留在我的連衣裙上，這樣我遇到什麼事哭了，就會有她的親吻。”
Then the lady realized that she wasn't just looking at a dress,no,she was looking at a mother…who knew that she was going away and would not be there to kiss away the hurts that she knew her daughter would get.
這時，女士意識到在她眼前的不是一件連衣裙，不是的，她在凝視一位母親……這位母親知道她將離去，無法隨時守候在女兒身邊，吻去她知道女兒必然會遇到的種種傷心事。
So she took all the love she had for her beautiful little girl and put them into this dress,that her child now so proudly wore.
所以她將所有對她美麗女兒的愛傾注在這件連衣裙上。現在，女兒如此驕傲地穿在身上。
She no longer saw a little girl in a simple dress. She saw a child wrapped…in her mother's love.
她看到的不再是身穿一件簡單的連衣裙的小女孩。她看到的是一個……被媽媽的愛裹著的孩子。
